Scene #5689: Then The Morning Comes (2)

Owner	Pose
Carna	The day has waned on. The time will soon come when everyone must return to their homes and wait for the brief interval of maintenance where the world will be mended of any flaws, everything will become more efficient, better-tuned to catering to the needs and desires of those within it based on the prior day's events, and there will be a whole new set of entertaintments, opportunities, projects to devote oneself to, and more when they 'awaken' a second or two later. The cobalt sun, a burning blue orb tracking across the sky, has nearly completed its almost twenty-four hour journey from one horizon to the other. You know how, as a child, it sometimes seemed like a day of fun and excitement might never end? How long summer seemed, even if time is supposed to go by faster when your are enjoying yourself? That is every day here. Every day is twice the length a day on Earth would be due to its lack of a night period, and with everything going on, all the time in Eternity to do with as one wills, it is dream-like in its extended euphoria. Except, of course, for those handfull of dissenters, but even they, eventually, seem to forget just what they disliked so much in the first place, as the world changes to accomodate them. Truly, this might be the best possible world. It will be a shame to actually leave it. Assuming anyone still wants to when it comes to be their time.
Count Kord	Where others get more used to it, something about it nags on Aepicus as the day progresses as if it everything were just a completely unnatural experience. He spends the last few moments of the day poking around the city, examining every nook and cranny, but there were no other anomalies that he could find. In a way, that was more infuriating. He thrived on the chaos of fighting each unforeseen disaster, even if they were modern and mundane disasters like trying to keep a business afloat when the market fluctuated. So the red-haired man stood in front of his house, frowning up at the cobalt sun. It didn't hurt his eyes like it would've on Earth, because it isn't a real star. It's the image of a star. It was yet another sign of the stagnation in this place. "Maybe I'm never getting out of here," he muses, crossing his arms and frowning sadly at the sky.
Tomoe	Jeci had been again getting int trouble meddling where maybe she should not, standing up for people no one else would do so. The dusky skinned redhead had well had quite the day really. Still she was not done yet and thankfully this time she hadn't done anything to get her dragged off for some lessons. Still it's a wonderful existence she's free, to be herself eternally herself and enjoying her existence to the fullest she was flying about again for the moment just trying to track down some or even one of her neighbours she wanted. That strange girl did stick with her and she wished she could help her out more but well? She's not seen her since she ran off and maybe it was for the best as she flitted about looki9ng for anyone she knew and might consider a friend. Still the other things breaking today made Jeci wonder? What was all of that about?
Finna	It's been an odd day and Nico Zangt hasn't ended up doing any of the things she wanted to do! .. because the things that her instincts screamed at her to do were WAY more interesting. And that's why an Arctic Fox vixen, her lean grey-brown summer coat, has been stealthily tailing after Aepicus! Because what's odder than someone who'd rather nose around into every nook and cranny than go have fun? She MUST get to the bottom of this, and hence commits the very same 'crime.'
Kushiko	What happened not too long ago was peculiar. The young girl had used her curious powers and the companion of hers to eventually return back to the streets, where she talked and shared the remainder of her foodstuffs she had baked with others. There's a strange dichotomy in Soupi. Whether or not she actually notices that certain things are happening the way they are, she never seems to let on. Maybe something about this life is so much /better/ than her old one. So she wore a big ol' smile, bright and beaming and talked with people about their day. Even if some of those talks fed her lines of 'well wasn't that odd?' from some of the people who saw what was happening prior. Titania had elected to alight to her shoulder for the time being, though the little robofairy was passively keeping watch in her own ways.
Dorian Pavus	Gil has been hard at work trying to find anything that hooded malcontent had left behind. Though in this world, a 'malcontent' seems an unusual thing to him -- aren't those naturally unable to happen? Either way, he hadn't been able to find anything. Perhaps all he could do would be to wait for them to show up again, and try to stop them then. But, well, it's nearing That Time again, so Gil has been forced to put his research away. As the day nears its end, Gil find himself walking back to his home. Walking, yes. He could fly if he wanted to, but... perhaps he's succumbing to that odd feeling that, if he drags his feet, there will be a few more moments. It's strange. He's never been reluctant to return home before... ''('Bah,')'' he dismisses the thought, assuring himself, ''('That upstart will be found and dealt with, and there won't be any need to worry.')'' Though if that's the case, the worried, thoughtful look on his face really doesn't jibe with someone who's sure 'everything will be dealt with'...
Leyanne	Paird cruises gently over Ascepius in her sleek, twin-engined aircraft, waggling wings to him. She got it in the air mere minutes after the morning's excitement was finished, or at least off the streets; she's been flying around ever since, apparently under the auspices of watching for more unusual things, but everyone knows it's really because she enjoys going far too fast in the thing. Still, though, it's nearing the Time, so she's cruising slowly in the direction of the workshop, and the landing strip beside it. Hopefully before turning in she can get the gossip from the others; shortly after touching down and stowing it away, Paird makes her way towards where she last saw him.
Wandering Dog	Balences' show is just wrapping up. The Flying Bricktiger has been destroyed, shattered with a karate chop that caused it to detonate into rubble, as the Masked Dragon saved the group of bricklayers from their fate. Turning to the audience, he strikes a poke, with a pointed finger. "Alright! Remember, everyone - what you see here isn't to be repeated! The Masked Dragon encourages you to be good to your family and peers, so that one day, you can be a hero too!" As The Time is coming, Balences looks out into the audience to see if anyone he gave a flier to is there. He'd understand if not, after what happened and the fact he does these all the time, but that's exactly why he wants to check. For now, he heads behind his makeshift stage, taking off his mask and stretching. What the hell was that hooded man, and why, despite knowing how bad it is, does he want to poke into it more? A drive for adventure he's had his whole life is still nagging at him, refusing to go away.
Empty Tidings	Eve Ren is in the audience for Balences' show. She's near the back, of course, leaving the closer seats for people who have children or loved ones with them. While the sheer variety of people in the city make it hard to pick her out of a crowd, the head of scarlet hair helps go a long way. She's applauding from the back, smiling a smile that looks genuine but conceals a whirl of concern for the upset that happened earlier that day. Eve is also very much alone, with the seats immediately adjacent to her vacant. People seem to get the impression she's waiting for someone, but nobody ever shows.
Carna	The day has worn on. People are beginning to make their way homes, wrapping up leisure pursuits and studies, cleaning up after a long day of battling fearsome foes in the arena, gathering their winnings from gambling or competitive games, putting their latest art piece up to dry or wait until the next day when they return to finish it... Or not, if they want to take their time. No rush, after all. Yes, there has been no further sign of any trouble. Nothing out of the ordinary at all, after this morning. Enough to make one think maybe it didn't even happen at all. Then several of the floating projections go fuzzy with static. All over Emblem City, they show what is a flickering silhouette, now distinctly the shadow of a person in the middle of all the black and white pixels. Who? And why? For a moment, the Selenes cease what they're doing and stare, as if not sure what to do next. But then high-speed flying vehicles come zipping in quietly, cutting through the air with barely a disturbance to park themselves in front of the projectors. Likewise, the automatons gather in front of any other billboards they can to block the view of the screens at ground level. This is highly out of the ordinary. The Selenes simply don't seem to know what to do about it, even as onlookers point and stare, breaking from the amazing performances they were previously watching, the pass-times and exercises, their quiet conversations about the morning's events, and so on. This is very, very, very unusual, even for a place as unusual as Emblem City.
Leyanne	Paird is so distracted by the billboards fuzzing to static, and the Selene response, that she walks straight past Ascepius and straight into a lamp post, which spins her around and dumps her on her backside in the street. "Bollocks..." She comments, picking herself back up and resuming staring. "It's happening again... always just after I pack the machine up. I'll never get it in the air in time..."
Wandering Dog	As Balences is packing up, he notices the billboards staticking again and frowns. Packing up his mask, he considers heavily what he's going to do...obviously he's going to ignore this and go back home, as he does after every show. Or atleast, that's what part of him tells him to do. But Balences ignores it, moving to take a seat next to Eve Ren. "Sorry if you were waiting for someone, but if it's happening again, you're the only person here who was involved. Do you have any idea what's happening? You went lunging after that guy last night, so I wanted to ask you." Balences asks, tone rather worried. "If something's happening here, I'm worried about the safety of my family. And if there's a masked man running around causing problems, I want them solved." Balences stops himself from saying 'I want to stop them'. He's not a hero.
Kushiko	Soupi was at a show! She was pretty sure she was at a show. Yes, that was it, she was absolutely at a show. She had been traipsing about for a bit, burying a certain sensation from what she saw earlier. That 'face', as it were. It kept trying to get back into her mind's eye, but at the same time, should she be bothering? She drifted in and out with some crowds. Maybe she should look into it some more. Maybe she shouldn't? A moment where that smile faltered came and went. The static in the screens is what aligns her thoughts towards investigation, the static making her smile somewhat... /bitter/. She appeared by Balences and Eve. Yes, pretty much like that--owed to her peculiar little phasing teleport. Like a thought occurred to her that she needed to express. "I'm sorry if I got in your way any," she suddenly remarks, an oddly serene tone in her voice. The fairybot shifts a little, circling around, though her attention seems to be on that odd static. "But I saw... something. Did you see something too?"
Tomoe	More things are going on for a moment something seeme to be happening with the more displays going to static but hte golden eyed redhead seems intent to flying down from above as she notices Gil and comes in for a landing, she dusts herself off for a moment and grins. "Hey Gil, good to see you, and what the heck is this!?" She sees the Slenes are up to somethign now as the projectors are on the fritz it seems. "It's happening again, what's been up with this day my friend?"
Finna	Screw traipsing after Aepicus! The moment there's static in the air, the fox's ears SPRING UP like radar dishes hunting for the slightest thing! She gives up all stealth and goes bouncing up onto some streetlights to look at one of the billboards! Then anything else in sight. "Hey, that looks like a person! Is someone messing with the boards?!" Logic says that if so, the only reason they'd want to do so is to be seen and heard. It doesn't take long for Nico's mischevious, highly inquisitive mind to put together the facts. Someone wants to spread a message to the city! Whether the city lords are a fan of it or not. "Who'd do that...? Hmmmmm." Still in fox form, the enthusiastic scholar slips into a much calmer stalker-mindset of sniffing out trouble, if still in a lackadaisical 'I am not in any danger here' manner. Out to investigate the nearest board!
Asterios	Large has had a day much like every other day he has had in the past... How long has it been? Does it really matter? It doesn't. Not here. But the screens go down as he makes his way home, the massive, mutated man coming to an abrupt stop as a nearby image is swallowed by a sea of static. He makes a quiet noise of observation and contemplation. "I don't think it's just a system error," the architect-and-carpenter murmurs, not needing a vantage point to supplement his already considerable height. Those Selenes would need to go far out of their way to block his line of sight! "The Selenes are behaving strangely. I wonder why they're all so... Scared of?" Hm. How strange.
Empty Tidings	Nobody shows up to sit with Eve, but Balences does. Maybe that's a sign? A sign that she's extremely lonely, maybe. "I wasn't." Eve tucks a stray lock of scarlet behind an ear, fingertip brushing the arm of her glasses. "Whoever it was just disappeared. I didn't get a good look at them." She looks up at Balences for a long moment, and then looks aside at the billboards. Flying cars zip right in front. She folds her hands on her lap. The artificial one with the filigree of what looks like a silhouette of Phoebe rests on top. She stares off into the distance for a few seconds, and then addresses Soupi. "I saw someone disappear into darkness, which I have yet to see anyone else do in the city. So it's either a new power on the market, or..." Eve lets that one hang there. She turns her eyes back to Balences. "Why?" she asks suddenly. "The Selene will keep the peace. I'm sure nothing could happen under their watch." But it /did/, and they keep trying to /cover it up/, she doesn't say. It's a silent scream, an undercurrent to her voice that is impossible to mishear. Listening to what she's /not/ saying is an art, but it's so obvious neither of them could miss it.
Dorian Pavus	Gil does come out of his thoughtful funk to watch Balences's performance as it wraps up, though he doesn't head in that direction. It's wrapping up, for one. For another, he really needs to get home. Which explains why there's so many people in the area (aside from previously mentioned performance); everyone really needs to be heading home. But then... ...It happens again. This time to EVERY billboard -- at least, every one Gil can see. He frowns, his eyes narrowing. THEN he's flying, though it's only to retrieve that disgnostic device of his. There's no way that hooded stranger could have altered EVERY billboard in the city without the Selenes seeing them, Gil reasons. So it must be some programming that's been put into the system from somewhere. That diagnostic device of his should be able to locate it, hopefully. Maybe he can try to put a stop to all this.
Carna	Investigation into the projections are abruptly cut off as the silhouette and the static both vanish, the displays returning to normal as though there was never an interruption at all. At the same time, the walls on several buildings begin to ripple, showing a stylized face or... Mask of some kind that seem to all be searching for something. They flow along the walls, across light fixtures, across anything, seeking, seeking... And then finding. There are a series of bright red lights that lance out the buildings at a certain point, and a small, nimble figure in a hoodie and loose pants trying to evade them with superhuman agility. It seems that Selenes alone are not being entrusted with seizing whomever this hoodlum is who is causing trouble. Coeus himself is now hunting the intruder, over there in that central plaza, as the would-be vandal tries to escape with much less success than before.
Wandering Dog	As Soupi shows herself, Balences gives her a nod in recognition, before staring Eve Ren down. He understands what she's getting at, after a few seconds. "People aren't able to just escape. Someone who does this, escapes, and then does it again is impossible. The Selenes would never let it happen." The performer responds, considering. "It's like a superhero story. The villain breaks the rules, escaping against all odds. Taunting and teasing. And if such a thing /were/ happening where the Selenes couldn't deal with it, which as we both know is impossible, then I have to worry about the people I care for. I'm sure it's nothing." But, then, Balences looks over to Soupi, before to Eve again. He clutches the mask in his pocket, one hand moving to stroke his chin. "But if it were, what would you do about it? Having been involved? Solely hypothetical, of course." Balences is terrible at being subtle, as suddenly, things change, masks ripple on the walls, and Coeus of all people get involved. "Oh, surely Coeus will solve it. As he has every other time he's gotten involved." The fact that his voice is still worried indicates that he's not exactly reassured by the fact that Coeus had to get involved.
Leyanne	Paird watches the buildings ripple and show the mask, tilting her head. She stares at it for several seconds, trying to figure it out. Something is Wrong here. Not... conflicted thoughts run through her mind before she hears footsteps. The pilot turns towards Coeus "Ah! Coeus old chap..." she begins, but he's already past her and out of range. Her curiosity stirred, the pilot follows Coeus at a slightly more leisurely pace; she's met him barely a couple of times - mostly during working on the engines - so any appearance he makes, especially with all this kerfuffle... she's bound to blunder exactly into where she shouldn't be sooner or later.
Count Kord	Aepicus didn't move from his spot as he saw the screens go haywire again. He had stared at them and frowned, but didn't move to investigate, as he felt mentally exhausted. Was that even possible for a dead man? His frown just grew and he brought his hand up to his face. Then Aepicus turned his head when he heard the ruckus. He sees the figure sprinting off, and something happens in the businessman's heart. The person who could make this place interesting might get caught, he might get taken down... and so he makes a decision. He begins to run. Fast. He uses flight to bridge gaps and makes a bee line toward Coeus. He doesn't stop for anything or anyone. And he follows the hooded figure, and keeps his eyes on the buildings, because the moment it looks like this person is actually going to get hit, he'll push them out of the way. Even if it means he'll get tagged instead. "You better keep running!" he shouts at the mysterious individual.
Finna	SOMEONE IS MOOOOOVING! It doesn't take Nico long to realize that THERE IS A CHASE AT HAND, and this ordinarily well-behaved (ish) scholar turns immediately into an animal on the proooowl. OR charge, as the case might be. ZOOOOOM, off she goes on all fours where the red lights converge!
Dorian Pavus	"...Blast," Gil mutters, as the displays return to normal. "Only enough time to disrupt things, and then..." He pauses, though, as... the walls start to change. Gil sighs. "That's what I was afraid of... too much meddling about and now they've gone and gotten HIS attention..." He is torn. On the one hand, this is a paradise that no one would ever need to worry about their indecisiveness causing the death of another. Being safe from that kind of pain, that's something worth preserving, isn't it? But on the other... one does not become a scientist without being curious. He wants to LEARN. To KNOW. How did they interfere with the displays? Why? Besides that, he doesn't want to know what fate awaits the hooded figure if -- no, WHEN -- they get caught. If the figure is lucky they'll only be 'soothed'. But this level of transgression... surely there would be a more horrible fate in store, for an upstart of this level. ''('...It's happening again.')'' He realizes it all at once. His inaction... it might cost that person their life (or UNlife, as the case may be)... ''("Then '''DO''' something!")'' Gil is almost surprised to hear that out of his own head. It almost doesn't feel like his voice. But that's neither here nor there. Suddenly he's moving, flying, in the direction of Aepicus and the hooded figure. He's not moving to intercept. He's merely following.
Tomoe	Jaci does not get a chance o interact with Gil much as he's hot on the trail of the strangeness. She summons her wings and flies off after him. Every Billbard is down, every last one is down. Jaci knows something isn't right here. She will check out the projectors and sees the strange shapes. She's nto sure what to make of them and something wose there's more things happening she looks to s Gil een as she will now get in on the chase as what else can she do?
Kushiko	"... oh." Soupi blinks a little. "I saw a face, but I wasn't sure... well. Not so much a face if that's right." She takes on sortof an exaggerated effect, "It was spooky, like all of their head was just... black." Her pleasent demeanour falters for a little bit. "Like on one of the shows, not yours though," she says, looking over to Balences. "I don't know, I..." She tilts her head, slowly and contemplatively. "I want to give people a reason to smile. I want to help them out, I--" And that's when the ripples, the distortions sharply appearing. The figure in the hoodie... is he, is it--the same one? "...ah!" The red light not damaging anything is... /good/ but even before that was confirmed, the robotic fairy spun, light casting a halo around herself as she gets in the way, "Titania, what...?!" She looks towards the person, then to Eve and Balences... "... but he only shows up when someone's trying to escape... hasn't he... or they..." The multiwinged mechafairy revolves slightly to regard the girl, then the dashing person. "... we should follow," is something she says with confidence, before the fairy bolts upward in flight, and she herself blinks, phase-dashing through Balences on the way through (though at least she doesn't leave them with any weird feelings after!). It's a moment of impulse. It's something that won't compel a frown out of her for her inaction were she to stay still. She has odd priorities, yes.
Asterios	Just as quickly as the video screens went wrong, suddenly things are made right again. The architect blinks several times as his eyes adjust to the fact that the image he was staring at is no longer just a sea of static. "Mmn," Large murmurs, almost as if he was about to begin a thought, but then... The buildings go strange. A face flits through the walls. Some of them, /his/ walls. An odd tingle races down Large's spine at the sight-- why does this all seem familiar? The red lights, the man racing from his pursuer, the one in the walls. Hm. Well. One way or another. If something /has/ stirred Coeus from his reclusive work, then it must be something groundbreaking. Something incredible. Something dangerous. Something that might put everything he's built at risk. Large makes another thoughtful noise, then turns and races off after the fleeing man with all the speed his tremedous strength can afford him. If this is a risk to the city, then... It's a risk to his work too...!
Empty Tidings	"If it were something for us to be worried about," Eve says to Balences, with quiet confidence, "then I would go see what the commotion is, and be worried about something I knew about instead of something I dutifully ignored. Isn't that what a hero would do?" She stands and smiles, stretching her arms up over her head. "Mmm -- I think," she says, watching the dashing Soupi, "we should heed the child's advice. They see things that we don't. Or, well, so they say." She lets her arms drop and works her way out of the rows of seating, beckoning Balences and taking off in slightly-less-hot-than-usual pursuit. No sense getting hit with a missile lock or something, after all.
Carna	Red beams of light track inwards, doing a far better job of the Selenes in cutting off routes of escape by simultaneously narrowing the area within which the figure can dodge while creating new layers of intersecting beams along paths that could lead them out of the maze. Further, the beams are in such number that they are erasing any shadows that the vandal could use to escape through, showing a clear level of learning and counter-measures on the part of the brilliant Coerus compared to his creations. The path that those trying to interfere can take is likewise frought with obstacles, as the beams criss-cross each other, and Selenes line up to try to block people, but the most determined, the most skilled, get closest. Thanks to their superhuman augmentations, those who dare the lasers are able to avoid getting hit for several seconds before the increasing complexity and number of beams in three-dimensional patterns becomes too much to actually keep track of. Jeci takes a beam first, and is immediately frozen in a prison of red light. Paralyzed in mid-air, perfectly aware but unable to do anything. Soupi's mad dash carries her but a few steps further, turning her and her little fairy too into red statues as well. Superhuman agility and speed keep Nico dancing about a little bit longer, before beams coming from above and below strike her. As the hooded figure springs off the ground one-handed, trying to reach one of the last remaining open spaces, briefly opened up, someone zips by the fourth red statue, Nico, as Eve, Gil, and Balences stand at the edge, watching. And then the paralyzing beams close over the inentionally-left-open escape route, and the hooded figure is left with nowhere to go right as several beams close on them at once. And then Aepicus using the bodies of the other three to shield him, pushes the strange out of the way just in time. He gets zapped in turn. The hooded figure doesn't waste the opportunity, using the momentum of being pushed, and... Stretching their arm out of their sleeve, a long black appendage that seizes something outside the laser trap, and pulls itself out, being missed by a hair's breadth on the way out by the frantically redirecting beams.
Carna	The hooded figure pulls themself directly into the nearest shadow, zipping right past Paird like they're being jerked back up by a bungee cord, and vanishes within the darkness, as the masks start sending beams of red light everywhere, hitting random bystanders who were too close, trying to track someone who is now out of their reach. Twice they've escaped. An announcement begins to ring out, reminding everyone it is curfed time, and they should return to their homes. In the chaos, many are fleeing, and 'home' seems like a good destination to head for. But the Selenes close in on those frozen in place, who attempted to help the vandal. "Your temparament is unstable. It must be soothed." they say as they cart the would-be heroes off to Phoebe's temple to be 'soothed'. The sun is near to setting. Those still out when it finally passes out of sight are going to get the same treatment as those who interfered are about to. And maybe worse. There are rumors of some sort of monster that's been roaming about of late, after all. There's going to be much for them to think about and maybe to discuss tomorrow... Unless, of course, they choose to ignore it and pretend it never happened. Though Eve, who stood nearby, observing, was in a position to see a similar sight to the one that Soupi saw, but unlike Soupi, there is an associated feeling. One of jarring disoriented and deja vu. A feeling of memories or... Images or... Something. Unfamiliar, and yet very much so. Digging into her brain. Unlike the others, they will still be there after the nightly maintenance period. As well, the words of someone, their voice unrecognized, but known somehow regardless. "We will be there shortly."
Leyanne	Paird frowns as everyone leaves her behind. "Well this won't do." She mutters. "This won't do at all. It'll take too long to prep the plane." She stops, reaching into her jacket and pulling out an art deco-styled helmet. She settles it into place on her head, then reaches into her jacket - evidently where she keeps the opening to her 'storage space' - and pulls out a rather large three-nozzle jetpack. A pair of control gloves with secondary jets and rudimentary control surfaces on her forearms are pulled out moments later. It takes the test pilot a minute or two to get everything situated; she's just about to take to the air when the figure surges past her. SHe blinks in surprise, turning to follow, but he's hit the shadow, and gone. "What...?" She blinks several times... the way he moves, it's stirred something in her. She's slow in her walk home - only just making it back there in time to avoid joining the four in the Temple of Selene. What in all hell is going on here? She'll have to react faster, next time. If there is one.
Wandering Dog	Balences watches as Soupi runs off, and moves his hand as to say something, when Eve speaks up. "Are we really heroes, though? We're citizens like the rest of them." He's not a hero, but he wants to be one. It's why he performs. To be a hero to the children. To be a role model. To be someone who others can look up to, and say 'wow, isn't he incredible? I want to be like him!'. Balences may not have used PRAYER, but... Well, as Eve says they should follow Soupi, the only argument that comes to mind is 'it's dangerous'. But so is what's happening in general, and what's happening to everyone. It's not in his heart to refuse it. And he knows, inside, that he can't fail if he does. If he wants to be a hero...this is where it happens, right? Balences ends up pursuing after Eve, stopping next to her. As the lights freeze the others, Balences' feeling of 'something is wrong' increases, especially the fact about their temperament being unstable. This feels wrong, and also unfair. All they did was cross into the lights, and they're getting brought away? For trying to do the right thing? "Hey! They didn't do anything wrong!" Balences shouts, following his heart. He steps away from Eve while doing so, towards the lights, but not into them. "Their temperaments are just fine! They were trying to help, with all the chaos. Can't you give them a break?!"
Carna	Despite his intentions, Large is zapped alongside the others. However, unlike them, he experiences and odd sensation of duality when he is frozen. A sizzling staticky image, completely unlike the ones from the projection screens, with a much clearer and yet even more indistinct silhouette, of some fearsome horned giant, as a bolt of lightning flashes behind him. Something to ponder on, on the way to get his temperament 'soothed'.
Dorian Pavus	Gil looks briefly to Jeci as she begins following. "Don't!" he cautions. "It isn't safe!" That is what he wants, after all -- to keep everyone safe. It's why he's fought so hard to keep the world secure... to keep people like this hooded stranger from interrupting things. Ironic, then, that he should now be trying to protect this person from the one being who could end said hooded person's interference once and for all. And it's also ironic then, that Jeci should be the first to be struck and immobilized by the beams. Followed by Aepicus. For a moment it looks like Gil's going to try to do something -- maybe try to free someone, or try to pursue the fleeing figure further. His brows draw together, he bares his teeth... Then the announcement comes. Curfew. Those immobilized are being carted off. Gil is honestly afraid of what will happen to them. But his fear of what will happen to himself wins out. They're not going to be killed -- they're already dead. They can't die. Besides, the goal is placation. And maybe this time those that are to be 'soothed' will stop being so reckless, and prevent it from happening again. For now, it's time to make a tactical retreat. There's nothing more he can do here. With an intensely dissatisfied look, he turns and makes for his home. He pauses only long enough to respond to Balence's words. "Don't, lest you find yourself in their places," he cautions. "For now I suggest you go home. They will be fine." He's not so sure about that, but he says it nontheless, his voice quiet. It's unusual to hear from Gil. But without anything further, he heads home. He doesn't want to be caught out.
Finna	Nico was just curious! And seeing a mysterious hooded figure who's somehow able to keep going through this is an exciting find! A pity that despite her best efforts to get the person's name, she finds herself ZAPPED into paralysis moments from her prize! "Hghhkh!" She groans in frustration. Not like she could protest being hauled off. Or would, much. NUTS!
Tomoe	then something happens the red beam comes and wors there's beams everywhere it's osme kind of bullet hell? Wait what is that term and why does she know it? She starts moving to evadde with near super human reflexes too as she dodges but it gets woree there are mot and this time she she's hit she let out a cry as the re light takes her but she's unable to move unable to act unable to do anything now but cloat and watch what's going on. She lioke the others is soon to be taken away to be soothed...
Asterios	What is that saying? The road to hell is paved with good intentions? Well, as it turns out, the road to being held in place by a terrible crimson glow that makes any notion of resistance utterly futile is made of similar stuff. Large is arrested in mid-leap, his body forming an almost comical, arm-pumping jumping gesture. With all the red, he looks every bit like he should be a plumber of some stripe instead of an architect. This is normal. This is understandable. They are only doing their jobs. But then... Why is he being Soothed, too? All that he wanted was to help them protect this place-- was that wrong? Is that not what he was meant to do? A mote of frustration burns in his eyes, blossoming into an unfamiliar, foreign anger. The world suddenly flashes from red into to monochromatic haze as something appears, burning itself into his retinas. What... A giant, and... And lightning? Lightning? Why lightning? Why does it feel like... he's missing something important...? Why is it that, in all the days he's been here, he can't remember even a single flash of lightning...?
Count Kord	Aepicus had pushed the person away just in time, only to discover that they were some manner of shadow. When the sight of it hit his eyes, something happened. He felt a wash of emotion, a strange surge of odd sensations. Not fulfillment, but something foreign to the current experience. Unfortunately, he hadn't much time to fixate on it when he was struck by the red light and frozen in place. He instantly knew what that meant, and everything in him told him to resist, but something about the light kept him completely stationary. He watched the shadow vanish. He commited it to memory... find whoever that is, because they're the key to disrupting this place.
Kushiko	The problem with her style of teleport is that she /has/ to generally go a set distance, no further, if just shorter. 'Blinking' as it were, she can at least hide herself somewhat, though it's hardly intended. She shrieks in surprise, a cry cut short and then there's... /nothing/. The fairy had come at the last moment, a desperate attempt by instinct alone to shield, but both are suspended there in the red light. Yet she saw something... didn't she? Either way, this... was something that instilled a sense of dread in that she may have, for the first time ever, did something wrong. What would Phoebe think of her?!
Empty Tidings	Eve gets to the edge of the laser grid and skids to a halt. She looks straight in, watching with a sort of neutral look on her face as people get zapped and frozen. It's about what she expected. Some part of her was hoping for disintegration, but... ...why would she hope for that? Huh. She puts a hand on Balences' arm, gently holding him back. It's her real hand, flesh and blood -- or as much of it as someone can have here. "They'll sort it out. I'm sure it'll just..." She's watching the one getting away. She sees... She sees... ... "...j-just..." Something flashes before her mind's eye. Something terrible. A wound in a world covered by water. Awful corpselike appendages snaking out like tongues. A ringing sound. A horrible, horrible ringing. Eve Ren doubles over and, without further fanfare, empties the contents of her stomach all over Balences' shoes.